Dedicate
by tingj02
Summary: Based on title song; WAFFy and sweet
1. 1

A/N: I hope you find this as wonderful as it was to write it. It's nice to write a lyrical piece; I hope it suits. The first part can be read simply be itself, or part of this series. It's... a little soft on Seifer's side. If you don't like WAFF, you're in the wrong place! 

I think that this will be edited to make Seifer a little more believable... Quistis too. Or I could just leave it as it is. We'll see.

This is based on a song I especially like, an instrumental piece (no voice) from 'Every Little Thing', called 'Dedicate'. It is a very sweet, relaxing song, and I recommend that you listen to it. 

Disclaimer: (applies for entire story)

I would love to say that I own my two favourite characters, but I don't. I would love to say I created the song, but unfortunately, my musical ear is much to be desired. But the basic plot is mine (I think) - so nyah to you, Square! Nyah!!

DEDICATE

The clarity of the notes rang out into the air, and I was shocked speechless. Each note seemed to be a key to my heart, and each succession was opening the lock I'd kept inside. It was… beautiful. A perfection I could never hope to receive. A beauty of such simplicity and clarity that it simply took my breath away. I'd long since lost my gift of words, and this was the closest since that day I'd ever approached… the closest I could… The loss was a simple regret, kept within me, but the notes were unlocking my heart… and heartbreak.

Relaxing, I let the music surround and clarify me, resounding and at the same time, quiet. It had been a long time… a long time since I'd let myself feel this way. To simply wonder, and dream. My experience had told me dreams were meant to be broken. The simple scattering of notes told me it wasn't. That sometimes, dreams could come true. That sometimes, it was better to believe.

_Hyne_. I closed my eyes, and let the music wash over me. An endless sea, each gentle breath washing over me and making me new again. Everything was so… insignificant. Petty and little. What did it matter, in the scheme of things? It was better to be content… to lie, letting the waves wash, letting life be and to just _be._

It wasn't without regret that I heard the music die down into a soft tremble and a sigh. 

The crowded restaurant was still, for once. Everyone, not laughing over the gaudy furnishings, over the rich over-extravagance of the red silk. Just still. Staring in wonder at the hands that had wrought the beauty that still lingered.

Smooth and white, but ordinary. Just hands. Hands that were a little unkempt, long fingernails that needed to be trimmed, tiny golden hairs. A familiar ring, simple in design. _E. Trepe_. My mother's.

My hands.

The proprietor rushed over, gushing praises and speaking of employment and so forth. The spell was broken. People returned to gossip, talk, laughter. A little bewildered that secret dreams, desires… regrets… had been exposed. A little awestruck. A little longing.

_"My God, dear girl, where did you learn to play? You were simply wonderful, extravagantly so. I must ask you to work here…"_

I let her words wash over me like rain. I was still staring at my hands. Hands that had… done something so wonderful I didn't know how to express my… amazement. Hands that had, however momentarily, wrought something exquisite.

I knew I wasn't perfect, but for the first time… I felt I was good enough. Just enough. Not more, or less. Simply... content.

I smiled for the first time in days.

*


	2. 2

I saw that smile. I saw it each and every day as she returned to play. Not the same song, not always. But she always unleashed a breadth of emotion I never knew she had in her. It shocked me. _The Balamb Icequeen?!_

And her smile. Tentative, quiet, seeking and stretching to something more. Trying to, not quite succeeding. 

It made me breathless.

Even now, I don't quite believe it. Thinking it was a dream. There she was, depressed over Puberty Boy as usual. Again. Always him. I remember I scowled a little. So I followed her, to taunt her a little, but then it became something more. She turned – _wrong way!_ – and I was curious. Following her. Listening to the sounds she made in the shitty little restaurant as she managed to grasp the hearts of everyone there. 

Then she smiled, and I was… surprised. I hadn't seen her smile genuinely, since… a long time ago. Sure, she smiled, but it never quite caught her eyes. But this time… her eyes came alive. 

So that's why I was surprised. Breathless even. It's been a long time since… and I don't think I'd ever seen it but once or twice when I managed to surprise her. 

So don't think of it as anything… else. She's damn bossy, annoying even when she tries particularly hard. Has a whiny little voice. Yeah, she's hot, but her personality sucks. They don't call her Ice bitch for nothing.

This, btw, is my favourite place to eat. It's quiet, even though the decorations are ridiculously overstated, and there's a lingering sense of peace. I don't have to stay at Garden and hear the taunts about past wrongs. Not that they bother me, but there's something annoying about their repetitiveness. Along with the fact I made SeeD, even when they did their best to stop me. You'd think they'd give it up by now.

_She_ came onto the small stage, and imperceptibly, I could feel everyone straighten in anticipation. A talented pianist, with the ability to grasp a person's soul. No wonder they hiked up the prices.

She was extraordinary, as usual. She played the first song she had ever played here… glimmering and shimmering cascades of notes and deliberate chords full of meaning. 

Don't know why, but I was smiling by the end of it. Damn it all.

She glanced over the appreciative applause, her lips stretching into that tiny smile. Afraid to widen. Her eyes, however, did widen when they glanced my general direction.

Shit.

*


	3. 3

I'd noticed him all along. It's hard to miss that build. Heavy, imposing… eye catching, along with the fair hair and green eyes. Even without the trenchcoat. 

My first thought had been, _What the hell is he doing? In my restaurant?_ I'd been about to set foot on his butt and shove but it did occur to me that the restaurant was free to the public. After that, I'd restrained myself. 

Still, he didn't cause a disturbance, and it seemed that he listened. They were good enough reasons to allow him to stay. I knew how he'd been treated at Garden – and still was treated – and I didn't intend to join that.

Nevertheless, the restaurant was something private and precious to myself, and I hadn't wanted to share it.

Although it was a little late, now.

But yesterday, I came in. I played the song I loved the most. I try to vary a little; sticking mainly to classical and a little rock and jazz for flavour. But I'd played too much of that lately. I wanted to return to roots. Remembering, as I played, the softness of Matron's arms, and Mother's, as they both taught me to play the piano. The utter innocence of childhood. 

I looked up, and my eyes were drawn to him. He was smiling.

I'd never seen him smiling like that before. 

It was as if the whole mess had never happened; that he was still the cocky ass that was Seifer Almasy, stubborn and overwhelmingly arrogant, sometimes touchingly vulnerable and most times annoying the hell out of me. Still, with no shadows and darkness. Annoying, but shining with promise. I was… bombarded with a strange sense of nostalgia and sorrow. Finding it hard to breathe.

I felt my eyes widen slightly in reaction, saw his widen also. Before he turned his head and purposefully ignored me. 

_As if that ever worked_.

I got up and strode purposefully to him.

"Seifer."

*


End file.
